I am making a wedding cake for my brother and he is asking if there is an icing that is so sweet. He is not wild about b/c or fondant. Any thoughts?? I thought about stabilized whipped cream but it is in september in southern ca. It is going to be hot and I don't know about refrigeration at the site. HELP!

try italian meringue buttercream, it's not sweet at all... just make sure you use unsalted butter. there's recipes posted all over for it, here's mine:
1/2 cup water
2 cups sugar
1 cup egg whites
6 sticks of unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla

melt sugar and water in a saucepan with a lid over med to med/high heat. bring to a boil with the lid on, once it comes to a boil set the timer for 7 mins. In the meantime, whip egg whites to stiff peaks. When timer goes off, slowly pour syrup into egg whites with the mixer on, avoid the whip. let the mixer run for about 10 mins or until the bowl is cool to the touch, then add the butter. It may look curdled at some point, just keep beating. at the very end, add vanilla to taste, I usually do about 1 - 2 tsps.

Thanks ! Does it hold up in warm weather with all the butter in it? Does it have to be refrigerated once on the cake?

I usually don't use it above 85 and even that's pushing it especially if it's humid. It cannot sit in the sun either. If it's hot, I'll usually make a 50/50 buttercream that has half shortening, half butter and powdered sugar but I personally find that type of buttercream way too sweet so what I did a few weeks ago, was mix in a couple cups of leftover IMBC to the full batch of the shortening buttercream and it actually tasted pretty good. I used it for my daughters birthday cake which sat out in a park for 3+ hours in 90 degree weather. It didn't budge a bit.

For decorating purposes does it hold up like buttercream?? I am making my borther's wedding cake. September 18 in Southern Ca ...hot hot hot! The cake can be in an a/c environment out of the sun too.

So you are saying make some of each type and dilute the basic b/c with IMBC?

What do all the pros do when they have soomeone request say a cream cheese or white chocolate icing and it is warm outside?

I made a cake for the bridal shower and the white chocolate cream cheese I made was floating/sliding off the cake in minutes of being out of the fridge!

Well I don't have a problem with it, it's not as stiff as powdered sugar icings but I can do all types of border and flowers with them.
and yes, that's what I did. I mixed the two together and it tasted pretty good.
i don't know what the pros do, I imagine they just tell the customer either they can't do it or they accept it at their own risk. I know alot of people will only use cream cheese frosting as a filling...

Thanks you have been extremely helpful!

Hi Liamsmommy!

I'd be carefull about the buttercream part.
I live in Panama, yes, down in the tropics and here the weather is EVERY DAY in the 90's and above and lots of humidity, so the time i TRIED to make italian meringue buttercream...you can imagine the desaster

I would just try the Italian Meringue or also known as Boiled Icing. Not so sweet and holds up really well in hot weather!

Good luck! post pics!

Are you saying the cake will be in an airconditioned room? If yes, then IMBC is okay.

I currently live in the tropics with temperatures regularly above 90 deg F and humidity averaging about 80%. I use an all butter IMBC almost exclusively for non-fondant cakes both as frosting and as a base for the filling. Tastes wonderful. It holds up well. I'm able to pipe flowers, basketweave, strings, etc - really anything you can think of. Have even iced topsy turvys with IMBC.

I work in an air conditioned kitchen. I don't refrigerate my cakes but leave them on the counter, with the ac running the whole time they're there.

Come delivery time I make my minivan really cool by running the engine/ac for about 5 minutes before loading the cake. AC blasting away I've never had any meltdowns even when making deliveries at noon in the heat of summer and while stuck in hour-long traffic jams. Cake sits on floor between driver's row and first passenger row.

At the venue, which is normally air conditioned, the cake does fine. Even when the ac sometimes can't handle the heat I've never had a melt down with IMBC. If venue doesn't have ac (e.g. pool party) I keep the cake in an ac room until about 30 minutes before serving. Again holds up beautifully.

The only times I've had a melt down was when I used milk chocolate ganache. Once the client left the cake in her car while she ran errands in the heat of summer and the 2nd time was when another client kept cake in hot kitchen, next to the stove while waiting to serve it for dessert.

Long story short: IMBC is okay for hot weather as long as cake is protected from extreme heat.

Alternative: If the thought of your cake melting away gives you heebie jeebies, try indydebi's crisco based bc. It's not as sweet as other bc recipes, tastes great, no slimy aftertaste, stays pure white. I only just discovered this recipe and I'm planning to add it to my repertoire.

Thanks for all the info!

I made my first batch following the above recipe (made a 1/2 batch) to play and test out. It tastes pretty good! It doesn't have that greasey taste like traditional b/c. I like it a lot!

I have a few questions about the IMBC...

#1 you say you can decorate with it...Mine has the consistency of stabilized whipped cream. Seems it would be hard to get clean lines with it. Is this normal? I covered it and stuck in the fridge. I will work with it tomorrow.

#2 Does it crust?

#3 If not how do you get the cake smooth?

#4 how do I get the recipe for indydebi's b/c

The wedding is at a huge ranch style family home and yes they have a/c. The bride originally wanted cream cheese for icing but I told her I didn't think it would work.
I live on the coast so it's a little cooler then where the wedding is inland about 20 miles.

Where do i find indydebi's BC recipe? I live in the tropics, right on the atlantic coast. Customer wants french buttercream - the egg yolk based real creme au beurre. I have seen some called french buttercream which are actually IMBC. Please tell me if IMBC would stand up to our kind of heat - up in the 90s

HI. This recipe sounds great but what about spoilage factor? I only use water in my BC cuz I'm terrified of milk, butter or eggs going bad in the heat while the cake sits.

the sugar acts as a preservative and keeps milk and cream from spoiling. Butter can be left out at room temp safely. My mom always has a butter dish out on the counter for toast, etc.

I make my icing with half butter and only use heavy cream in it and it has never "spoiled" on me. I leave it out on the counter for several days, almost a week once and nothing happened. Just needed to remix it a little and it was good to ice some cupcakes.

I make my icing with Crisco and used for my daughter's wedding cake in August in NC at the beach in 90+ degree heat with no problems. As for the sweetness, I used 1/3 each vanilla, butter and almond flavorings. Everyone loves it!
Leslie